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Summary: What to Expect gets 5 pacifiers from BabyLounge.com
Review: If you only buy one pregnancy book, this is the one MUST have. Laid out in a question/answer format, this pregnancy bible starts with "Are you Pregnant?" and ends with "Six Weeks Postpartum." Every imaginable topic is covered, from how to handle spotting to what if you had a few alcoholic drinks before you knew you were pregnant. Each chapter starts with a diagram of what you may look like during that month (yes, your breasts will get that big!), what you may be feeling (exhaustion and nausea are not just in your head), and what you can expect at this months check-up (hearing your babies heartbeat for the first time will be the sweetest sound you've ever heard!). Once you purchase this book, you will not be able to go more than a few days at a time without picking it up for a quick peek. Keep it in the bathroom, where you will spend most of your time for the next nine months. By the time your nine months are up, you will have read this gem cover to cover and you'll be ready to start reading "What to Expect the First Year."
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Summary: A waste of paper
Review: This book is unimaginative, uninformative, patronising, repetitive and boring. While reading this book, you could be forgiven for forgetting that you are reading about the most amazing thing in life. The instruction manual to our fax machine makes a better read. There are far better books, look around!
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Summary: Wonderful book for the first time mom's!
Review: This book is very informative and totally prepared me for everything I should expect. In fact, the only way that I knew I was in labor was from a clue that this book gave me.
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Summary: NOT a positive book! Read "The Preganancy Book" by Sears
Review: First time moms beware!! I would give this book negative stars if possible. It amazes me that every pg person I know has read this and only tells me NOW how much they DID NOT like it! It's approach was frightening and made me feel inadequate - esp. when I was not able to follow the "Best Odds Diet" [which was quoted in another book about the diet used by 3rd world countries to torture prisoners]. It did not thoroughly address issues such as expanding waistline and gas and bloating, but emphasized a 3-POUND ONLY weight gain for the first trimester. (Not, of course, mentioning the diffences between individual pregnancies.) I found Sears book to be a much more realistic approach to pregnancy. One I could read and feel GOOD about myself and my pregnancy with. I no longer cried over my 6 pound weight gain and waistline that had grown 3 inches in the first 9 weeks of PG. Plus, it told me WHY things were good and bad and WHY I should do things in pregnancy.
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Summary: Lots of information
Review: What to Expect has lots of information that I found useful during my pregnancy. I spent a lot of time looking up topics in the index - I almost always found something about the subject I was searching for from heartburn to irritability to fatigue. What to Expect, along with We're Pregnant! (a much more personal account of the whole pregnancy process from both an expecting mom and dad) and She's Having a Baby and I'm Having a Breakdown (an expecting dad's point of view) made for quite a pregnancy book collection and provided me with a wealth of information. I highly recommend all three.
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Summary: Answers any question you may have.
Review: This book was a great guide to pregnancy, it literally answered every question I had. Including the ones I was afraid to ask anyone because I thought they were stupid. The best odds diet is a little extreme but if you use it as a guide and not a bible it helps. You also may not wish to read the sections on what could go wrong unless there is a reason to because it is a little scary (but for anyone who has any of these problems it probably very helpful).
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Summary: Not for Attachment or Contimuum parenting families!!
Review: This book is for conventional parents - parents who think artificial feeding and breastfeeding are one in the same, who think extended breastfeeding is distasteful and a minipulation of a mother by her nursling, and parents who believe it is OK to let a baby cry herself to sleep in an isolated crib down the hall. These authors actually state (in so many words) that breastmilk is basically useless after one year, and that sleeping with your infant in a family bed is not desirable. If you want a better guide for instinctual parenting from the heart, read "The Continuum Concept" by Jan Leidloff, or "Attachment Parenting" by Katie Allison Granju.
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Summary: What to worry about....!
Review: I read "What to Expect" quite a bit in my first few months. It was a useful guide to answer questions between doctor's visits. However, I picked it up again recently, in my eighth month, and was astounded by how negative it sounded. Its focus on "Concerns you may have" really began to scare me, as it made me worry about things I hadn't thought to worry about! It is not helpful to dwell so much about what might theoretically, rarely go wrong. I also found that the Best Odds Diet was totally annoying and unrealistic. For a more positive, comprehensive book, try "The Baby Book" by Bill and Martha Sears.
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Summary: An Okay Book, But There are Others That Are Better
Review: When I had my first baby this book was okay. Actually 10 years ago it was a great book. However it hasn't revised to keep up with the times there are other books that are far better. I agree with the other comments about the nutrition section. A bit unrealistic. I become a childbirth educator after my second baby and have read many books. I am also a Doula, trained labor support person and look for helpful and informative books for me and my clients. Even though the book has been revised it still isn't current with other printed material. If anyone is interested in other books they can e-mail me and I can refer them to a book that might suite them. I read a few of the comments and some other books listed that I will read to get a feel of the information. If you want a general book What to Expect is okay. But for more informative books with a more upbeat tone. There are others that can do better.
Rating: 
Summary: a flawed basic reference book
Review: I found "What to Expect" to be a crucial but irritating part of my pregnancy library. Basically, most of the book was superb in its detail, but the nutrition section was offensive -- pregnant women don't need the dose of self righteous guilt that it provides (if you must have a treat, maybe a piece of carrot cake once a month?!!!!?). Buy it, but only if you also buy Vicki Iovine's "Girlfriends Guide" for humor and practical advice. I also really liked "Advice from a pregnant obstetrician" (title approximate) for more reasonable and usable advice from a practicing OB/GYN (much less of a guilt trip than What to Expect).
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